Researchers create new form of ice using graphene sheets

March 26, 2015 8:55 PM

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Researchers have managed to create a new type of ice, something that results from using a couple sheets of graphene to flatten a drop of water. This is done on the microscopic level, and the new type of ice is called "square ice", referring to the square grid-like pattern of the atoms. The ice is created at room temperature, which makes it all the more notable, and follows an initial discovery made back in 2012 when a team of researchers noted that water vapor will pass through graphene oxide, but not helium gas or related gases.

The ice is formed at room temperature using pressure and sheets of graphene. The researchers made it by putting a microliter of water onto a graphene sheet, then they placed a second sheet of graphene on top of the water. The water started to evaporate, and the sheets were pressed together during th...